I think I’ve discovered a new pet peeve–people blaming their non-exisistant OCD. I know that often its just a saying, with nothing meant behind it, but it can be kind of annoying to people who actually live with OCD (see my last diary entry). Often people just stay it because they anal about the way something should be done. Obsessively so? Maybe. A compulsion to fix what’s wrong? Yeah, they probably feel that too. However those two factors alone don’t equal a “disorder”.
I never really say anything when I hear or read someone make a reference to their “OCD” when it’s obvious they was just using it as a term to emphasize the extremity of something. However I find myself silently offended more and more often. I’d liken it to the way a blind person might feel when someone walks into a piece of furniture and yells “I’m blind as a bat!” Or maybe it’s the way a stay at home mom feels when friends say how lucky they are because they get to stay home and “not work”. A bit ignorant and insensitive, no?
I think my reaction is because I’m starting to define OCD as a mental disorder. People don’t make reference or light of others with autism, bipolar, or depression–why is it OK to make light of OCD? If you have an autistic person in your family and someone says something is “retarded”, doesn’t it grate you a bit? Or maybe if you have a loved one in the GLBT community and you hear someone saying something is “gay”, don’t your eyes snap to the side to get a good look at the idiot. I think that’s kind of the way I’m seeing things.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder isn’t about being neurotic, crazy, or overly concerned with color coordination. For someone with OCD is about living in a whole other head-space than others.
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